This year, I wanted to practice my foreign language skills and read more classics, so I combined them, but with very mixed results.
In my childhood, I read many classics, but over time, I shifted to fantasy. This year, I wanted to broaden my reading and read different books.
Steppenwolf. The book was clearly a classic. It contained many reflections on the nature of personality and how it consists of many parts; it began with the protagonist's thoughts on suicide and moved on to self-discovery; reflections on how one should not take life and everything else too seriously; how important it is to be creative; and how important it is not to indulge in self-flagellation. An interesting work, but not to my taste.
Ficciones. On the one hand, I admire this book. Borges has a wonderful ability to write short stories. Even in a story of just five pages, he is able to create a fascinating story. They are full of references to other works, philosophical ideas, and intriguing plots.
On the other hand, I didn't enjoy these stories. It feels like he writes for "those who know." If you're not familiar with the books, history, and philosophy he references, you miss out on much of the content.
I'd compare it to pure mathematics: many people love it and can spend considerable time discussing it, but the vast majority are not interested in it. I argue that Borges's works are similar in that sense. There is an audience that enjoys this type of narrative, but it is clearly not for everyone. I admire Borges, but I did not like these stories.
La Casa en Mango Street. I liked this book. It gives us a glimpse into Esperanza's life. Initially, the stories are more childlike, with dreamlike simplicity. Then we see how Esperanza grows up and reflects on other matters. Many of the stories are very sad, about people who have suffered greatly. At times, it was difficult to read.
La Casa de los Espíritus. I didn't finish the book, as there were almost no likeable characters in the book.
Rayuela. I dropped it as well, as it was too confusing and I didn't care about the characters. I understand that this is both a parody of the shallow society and an interesting way of exploring the story (with multiple reading orders of chapters), but I didn't like it.
House of Spirits. This was my last straw at reading Latin American books. I understand that they depicted the real cruelties and bad sides of life, but… did it need to depict such things?
When Barrabas became an adult, he stopped fornicating with the feet of the piano, as he had in his childhood, and his reproductive instinct declared itself only when he sniffed a bitch in heat in his close environs. On such occasions there was neither chain nor door that could hold him back. He would hurl himself onto the street, overcoming every obstacle in his path, and remain at large for two or three days. He always returned with the poor dog hanging off him, suspended in the air, impaled on his immense masculinity. The children had to be whisked out of the way so they would not see the horrendous spectacle of the gardener hosing the dogs down with freezing water until, many gallons and kicks and other indignities later, Barrabas became unstuck from his beloved, leaving her to die in the courtyard of the house, where Severo was obliged to finish her off with a coup de grace.
With this, I have decided to have a break and read more fantasy. I plan to read more classics again… but I hope to find something more palatable. I know that classics are meant not just for enjoyment, but also to know more about different epochs and people, think about existencian questions and more. But many of the same things are covered in fantasy too.
by Artgor
1 Comment
Most of the books and articles Borges references don’t actually exist.